Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s Eighth Annual

Cancer Molecular Markers

Guiding Cancer Management

The availability of validated cancer biomarkers for the diagnosis of cancer remains limited. Various types of biomarkers will be evaluated, then compared and contrasted for their use. Epigenetic, exosome, EMT, cell-free DNA, and circulating tumor cells will be examined for profiling, characterization, and precise diagnosis of cancer. Each one will be considered for the ultimate test: the ability to validate it forclinical use.

Single-cell approaches are used to study EMT-related markers of CTCs for metastatic prostate cancer detection and prediction. Markers are identified using microfluidics and atomic force microscope (AFM) for molecular profiling and nanomechanical and nanochemical phenotypes of CTCs, respectively.

11:00 Integrated System for the Efficient Analysis of CTC Sub-populations with Divergent Phenotypes

Rare CTC sub-populations can be isolated directly from whole blood using the appropriate markers and processed for molecular signatures to identify key drivers of, for example, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions that may be associated with spawning metastatic disease. New microfluidic systems and assays for processing CTC sub-populations and their molecular signatures will be discussed.

We report novel strategies investigating breast cancer CTCs isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with or without clinically diagnosed brain metastasis. We demonstrated the metastatic competency of CTCs and necessity of a specific CTC profile to promote brain metastasis. These results and strategies can have high impact towards developing new and effective therapies combating breast cancer metastasis in general, brain metastasis in particular.

Circulating non-hematologic cells (CNHCs) - putative CTCs/CTMs - isolated from blood by ScreenCell filtration in 40 patients with renal tumors were characterized. We found that CNHC-clusters with malignant or uncertain malignant cytomorphological features were CD45neg/CD31pos. Array-CGH revealed a balanced genome in 83% of cytomorphologically malignant/uncertain malignant CNHC-clusters whereas 17% showed genomic DNA imbalances not found in the primary tumors. Thus the majority of CNHC-clusters may be of endothelial origin.

We developed a dynamic biomarker based on this premise utilizing highly sensitive digital PCR-based and next-generation sequencing-based assays. Ongoing efforts are expanding the role of ctDNA measurements in a variety of clinical scenarios and for the genotyping of patients enrolled in clinical trials. This technology is also being incorporated into the human clinical trials as a companion diagnostic measuring key predictive mutations in the blood.

Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has evolved into a provocative new approach of assessing genomic and epigenomic alterations in cancer patients’ blood. In recent years, cfDNA has been shown to be a potential blood biomarker for monitoring tumor progression.

Rapid advances in next-generation sequencing technology are now enabling routine interrogation of tumor genetics on an unprecedented scale. From deep targeted panels to whole genome sequencing, innovative research tools are providing critical new insights into tumor biology, paving the way for earlier diagnosis and more personalized treatment. Emerging methods based on circulating tumor DNA are particularly exciting as they hold the promise of noninvasive tumor detection and characterization, with potential applications across the continuum of cancer care.

4:20 Valentine’s Day Celebration in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing

5:20 Breakout Discussions in the Exhibit Hall

These interactive discussion groups are open to all attendees, speakers, sponsors, & exhibitors. Participants choose a specific breakout discussion group to join. Each group has a moderator to ensure focused discussions around key issues within the topic. This format allows participants to meet potential collaborators, share examples from their work, vet ideas with peers, and be part of a group problem-solving endeavor. The discussions provide an informal exchange of ideas and are not meant to be a corporate or specific product discussion.